A Little Cook-Book for a Little Girl

Margaret's mother had some pretty little dishes with handles, brown on the outside and white inside. These Margaret buttered, and put one egg in each, sprinkling with salt, pepper, and butter, with a little parsley. She put the dishes in the oven till the eggs were firm, and served them in the small dishes, one on each plate. Eggs with Cheese 6 eggs. 2 heaping tablespoonfuls Parmesan cheese. Y2 teaspoonful salt. Pinch of red pepper. Beat the eggs without separating till light and foamy, and then add the cheese, salt, and pepper. Put a tablespoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and when it is hot put in the eggs, and stir till smooth and firm. Serve on small pieces of buttered toast. Parmesan cheese is very nice to use in cooking ; it comes in bottles, all ready grated to use. Eggs with Bacon Take some bacon and put in a hot frying-pan, and cook till it crisps. Then lift it out on a hot dish and put in the oven. Break six eggs in separate cups, and slide them carefully into the fat left in the pan, and let them cook till they are rather firm and the bottom is brown. Then take a cake-turner and take them out carefully, and put in the middle of the dish, and arrange the bacon all around, with parsley on the edge. Ham and Eggs, Moulded Take small, deep tins, such as are used for timbales, and butter them. Make one cup of white sauce; take a cup of cold boiled ham which has been put through the meat-chopper, and mix with a tablespoonful of white sauce and one egg, slightly beaten. Press this like a lining into the tins, and then gently drop a raw egg in the centre of each. Stand them in a pan of boiling water in the oven till the eggs are firm, — about ten minutes, — and turn out on a round platter. Put around them the rest of the white sauce. You can stand the little moulds on circles of toast if you wish. This rule was given Margaret by her Pretty Aunt, who got it at cooking-school ; it sounded harder than it really was, and after trying it once Margaret often used it. FISH One day some small, cunning little fish came home from market, and Margaret felt sure they must be meant for her to cook. They were called smelts, and, on looking, she found a rule for cooking them, just as she had expected. Fried Smelts Put a deep kettle on the fire, with two cups of lard in it, to get very hot. Wipe each smelt inside and out with a clean wet cloth, and then with a dry one. Have a saucer of flour mixed with a teaspoonful of salt, and another saucer of milk. Put the tail of each smelt through its gills — that is, the opening near its mouth. Then roll the smelts first in milk and then in flour, and shake off any lumps. Throw a bit of bread into the fat in the kettle, and see if it turns brown quickly ; it does if the fat is hot enough, but if not you must wait. Put four smelts in the wire basket, and stand it in the fat, so that the fish are entirely covered, for only half a minute, or till you can count thirty. As you take them out of the kettle, lay them on heavy brown paper on a pan in the oven, to drain and keep hot, and leave the door open till all are done. Lay a folded napkin on a long, narrow platter, and arrange the fishes in two rows, with slices of lemon and parsley on the sides.